Posts tagged Gulf of Kutch

This image focuses on the Indian state of Gujarat, located in the western part of the country, with a population of 56 million with an area of 196024 sq.km. Scientists studying climate change in the region have observed that the frequency of hot days shows a gradual increasing trend and the frequency of cold days shows a decreasing trend.

In India, the mean sea‐level rise is estimated to be about 1.3 mm/year on an average. This will lead to an increase in salinity, affecting habitats, agriculture and availability of fresh water for drinking, particularly in states such as Gujarat with large stretches of coastline (click here for more information). Here the Gulf of Kutch (above) and the Bay of Khambhat (below) can be observed.

Sediments give the Gulf of Kutch, southwest of the bright white salt flats of the Rann of Kutch in northwestern India, tan and green hues. In this area – in fact, along the entire western Indian coastline – tropical ecosystems and species such as mangroves and coral reefs are threatened by changes in temperature, rising sea levels and increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Already, nearly 30 per cent of the coral reefs in the Gulf of Kutch are ‘bleached’ as they loose the colourful algae that live on them — an occurrence associated with seawater warming.

A dust storm that has been blowing off the coast of Iran and Pakistan sends dust and sand particles over the mouth of the Indus River and over the Arabian Sea. Over land, the dust hangs in the air by the Pakistan-India border, partially veiling the Rann of Kutch wetlands and the Gulf of Kutch to their south. The gulf of Khambhat, in the lower right corner, remains unaffected.

Climate-related disasters have brought widespread misery and huge economic losses to India, adversely affecting public health, food security, agriculture, water resources and biodiversity. The situation is likely to worsen if human beings continue to pump ‘greenhouse gases’ like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. These gases trap heat from the sun and thus lead to global warming.

As the Earth’s temperature rises, a series of reactions take place – for instance, sea levels rise and inundate land, weather patterns change and have an impact on agricultural productivity, precious fresh water evaporates faster, disease carrying vectors increase, thus leading to epidemics.

One place in India that may be particularly affected by climate change are the saltwater marshes and mudflats of the Rann of Kutch (appearing as a white area near the image center) in Gujarat. As global warming causes a rise in sea level, these marshes and mudflats are likely to be submerged. One of the largest breeding colonies of the Greater Flamingo and the habitat of the endangered Lesser Florican and Indian Wild Ass, both found in the Rann of Kutch, could also be lost.

Smoke from fires in northwestern India blows towards the southwest, over the India-Pakistan border near the Arabian Sea. The smoke stretches across the coastline from the mouth of the Indus River, in Pakistan, past the Gulf of Khambhat, in India (bottom right). Visible between the two, through the veil of smoke, are the Rann of Kutch and the Gulf of Kutch.